计算经济学的学科属性、研究方法体系与典型研究领域

Discipline Attributes,Research Method System and Typical Research Fields of Computational Economics

计算经济学是经济学、管理学与计算机技术交叉融合而形成的新兴学科,其在方法论上的本质特征是运用求解数学问题的数值解(而非解析解)的计算性方法开展研究。本文讨论了计算经济学与计量经济学等相关经济学分支学科的关系,尝试界定其在我国现有学科体系中的位置。目前广泛使用的计算经济学研究方法可以归纳为数学规划、计算机仿真和机器学习三类,本文梳理了这三类方法的特征及其所包含的常用具体研究方法和工具,同时指出它们所涉及的数学问题的结构化程度递减,而建模所需的数据量和算力递增。本文归纳了计算经济学能够发挥其独特作用的应用领域,具体包括异质性个体的经济行为、经济主体之间的交互作用、经济系统的微观-宏观关联、经济动态过程及发展趋势等问题。此外,本文探讨了计算经济学研究的发展趋势和值得探索的方向。

Computational economics is a new discipline formed by the intersection of economics,management science and computer science.Its essential feature in methodology is to use the computational method to solve mathematical problems(rather than analytical solutions)to carry out research.This article discusses the relationship between computational economics and econometrics and other related branches of economics,and tries to define its position in China’s existing discipline system.The typical methods of computational economics can be summarized as mathematical programming,computational simulation and machine learning.This paper sorts out the characteristics of these three kinds of methods and their commonly used research methods and tools.At the same time,this paper also points out that the structural degree of mathematical problems involved in these methods decreases,while the amount of data and computational power required for modeling increases.This article summarizes the application fields in which computational economics can play its unique role,including the economic behavior of heterogeneous individuals,the interaction between economic subjects,the micro-macro relationship of economic system,the dynamic process and development trend of economy,etc.In addition,this article discusses the development trend of computational economics research and the direction worth exploring.